This offering adds to the reflexivity and NHPA amendment discussions that 
have occurred on three lists (ACRA-L, HISTARCH, and ARCH-L).
 
About reflexivity:
Reflexivity is like salt. We need it in our lives and yet we can't have too 
much because too much will destroy that which does it. There are many forms of 
reflexivity. I have talked about two, social reflexivity and self-reflexivity.
 
Social reflexivity is all around you. It manifests in thousands of ways. It 
is present whenever people acknowledge who they are and what they are doing. 
These chat rooms, peer review, and simple moments of greetings and good byes are 
all manifestations of social reflexive behavior. 
 
Self reflexivity is the similar experience of acknowledging yourself in terms 
of who you are and what are you doing. A little dose of it every day assists 
in the maturity process as we all go through our life cycles. Too much of it 
leads to the trap of narcissism. I also think that you should do it on your own 
free time, not while at work. 
 
Reflexivity in archaeology:
Some people will tell you that reflexivity has come to archaeology only in 
the last thirty years or so. There was this “reflexive” turn, if you will. This 
is nonsense. By definition, archaeology has always been reflexive because 
it's humans studying remains of humans. As long as humans have studied themselves 
they have been, by definition, human. You might as well define homo sapiens 
as being creatures with reflexive ability—awareness of being self aware. All 
social sciences, history, and fine arts are socially reflexive endeavors. 
 
Historic preservation, like archaeology, is a profession devoted to the 
social reflexive process. When the NHPA crisis popped up a few weeks ago and then 
the reflexive topic came along on these websites I ventured off into a mental 
journey of rediscovery. I ventured across places I hadn't been for many years. 
I also found new stuff, like all of social science is now really into this 
reflexive stuff. The R word is everywhere. What is this, a mid life crisis by 
Baby Boomers?
 
Reflexivity in CRM:
The other thing I stumbled across is a paper by Michael Shanks, The Future of 
the Past in Post-Industrial Society 
(http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/%7emshanks/writing/Future_past.pdf). Irony of ironies, I find myself, after many years 
of being dissatisfied by his work, actually promoting one of his papers. If you 
get past a couple of his quirks (calling himself a culture critic and 
archaeology as story telling) the paper is a road map to the future of CRM. I 
especially like the discussions of democracy, industry, and identity. I tip my hat to 
Dr. Shanks.
 
Cheers,
Larry Moore

Reflexive essays:
2001   The Misplaced Trowel. North American Archaeologist 22(4): 387-402.
1994   The Ironies of Self-Reflection in Archaeology. In Archaeological 
Theory: Progress or Posture? Edited by Ian Mackenzie, pp. 43-56. Worldwide 
Archaeology Series #11, Avebury/Ashgate Publishing Co., Brookfield, VT.
1994   Getting Back to Work: Reply to Mackenzie. In Archaeological Theory: 
Progress or Posture? Edited by Ian Mackenzie, pp. 61-65. Worldwide Archaeology 
Series #11, Avebury/Ashgate Publishing Co., Brookfield, VT.